I used to like Biggest Loser. It used to inspire me to pick up my dumbbells and exercise. However, as I've learned more about reality, proper eating, working out, and what it takes to actually burn enough calories to lose weight, I've come to dislike the show.

The show is completely unrealistic. We can't quit our jobs and devote 24/7 to the task of losing weight. Normal people are not going to find a way to work out 3-4 hours a day. Being sent home for losing less than 10 pounds in a week, when in reality 2 pounds is realistic, is ridiculous.

The show may help a few select people who make it on and are given salary-replacement. It is completely unrealistic for the masses of overweight people in our world.

Julia Sonoran Desert Joyfully owned by two retired racing greyhounds. Happily vegetarian for over 40 years.

They don't focus on food because you can only lose so much by changing your diet. Go below 1200 calories/day and you'll be in trouble. They exercise those people like machines to get the giant calorie deficits that go into those double-digit losses each week though.

I mean, I need to eat 1700 a day to maintain. If we were to say that I could eat 1000 a day at the minimum and still lose weight without my body shutting down on me (because that's still way too low), that would give me ALMOST a 5,000 calorie deficit for the week. That's not even two pounds. But burn 500 calories an hour for 7 hours a day and you've got 7 lbs over the course of a week.

I love the show, though. It is part of what inspired me to lose the weight when I was an obese teenager. As a healthy adult, it doesn't provide much more than entertainment at this point, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Edited by: BME_22 at: 5/16/2013 (08:43)

If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

What is right is not always easy, and what is easy is not always right.

I don't have access to the show except on-line now and then - and I have to admit - it's sort of like watching a freak show to me. These double digit weekly weight drops feel so unnatural and I don't like the scripted drama. so since I am selecting what I want to watch - I like to watch the episode when Tim Gun transforms their fashion and style. No drama there - or very little.

Mind now - I am happy for anybody who gets to reshape her body - but I don't really like the methods televised on the show. My personal trainer is constantly encouraging me so I'm constantly trying to improve over the last move, time, weight, etc. If somebody yelled at me - I would walk away.

Just catching up on this thread. Although I had several years where I glued myself to the TV on Biggest Loser nights, I no longer enjoy watching the show. For me, what the contestants do is unrealistic and something that I cannot do with a full-time job, volunteer and family obligations.

There were times when the show inspired me to get up off the couch and exercise while watching, so I had some value from it. Now, my TV rule is simple: if I've logged my planned exercise for the day, I can watch TV. If I haven't then I either have to go exercise or exercise while watching. :D

Julia Sonoran Desert Joyfully owned by two retired racing greyhounds. Happily vegetarian for over 40 years.

I'm friends with a woman who is about my height and would like to lose about 80lbs to be about the size I am. We talk a lot about eating healthy, tracking calories. She asks me a lot of questions, and I like to help her any way I can to pay it forward.

She just sent me a message about how one of her coworkers was ripping on a friend (let's call the friend B). B had lap band surgery a few weeks ago, and has "only" lost 17lbs since then. The coworker thinks it's ridiculous for B to be so excited about this loss. After all, the contestants on the biggest loser might drop that much in a week. And B can only drink protein shakes right now, so she should have lost AT LEAST that much. Understandably, this upset my friend, who probably hasn't even lost 17 lbs yet.

*sigh* just another reminder that most people don't understand what really happens at the ranch. I went through the numbers, using Gina as an example, to show her just how insane their losses really are. I hope she listens.

If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

What is right is not always easy, and what is easy is not always right.

I have a love/hate relationship with the podcast in general because sometimes Jillian is cruel to her producer Janice in ways that turn me off. But this episode was pretty good. I recommend it if you're curious about how BL is produced.

Edited by: 4A-HEALTHY-BMI at: 2/12/2013 (21:22)

Never, ever, EVER give up!

From BMI 53 (336 lbs) to under 30. Now aiming for less than 20% body fat.

Well yeah. They need ratings, so they need drama. But watching Pam finish 3rd in a 5K? Way more emotional IMO than any of the drama they can come up with. She rocked it! Heck, watching all of them running the 5K was just awesome.

I guess I didn't pay much attention to Allison's actual outfit. DH mentioned last week that her chest was looking rather large, so I had made a note of that. But yes, she's always wearing kinda weird stuff. I can't imagine she picks it out herself...

If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

What is right is not always easy, and what is easy is not always right.

My comment wasn't about the change in Allison's chest (although I agree it seems larger) but rather about the funny style of the top, and how much it looked like a Jiffy Pop package to me. She often wears unusual things at the final weigh-ins; I kind of enjoy wondering what they'll come up with each week. And I wonder if she chooses those things herself, or whether someone is hunting around for them for her.

Indeed, reality TV is heavily edited in order to construct some kind of narrative, and the more drama they can imply, the better, at least for selling commercials. Who knows what stuff they don't show us? RUSSLANE has talked to some previous contestants who felt like they were portrayed unfairly. I believe that is pretty common in reality TV.

Jillian has a podcast that I listen to, and in it she has complained about some of the contestants. I get the sense that her comments are a little less filtered than what we see on the show.

LOL, 4A HEALTHY BMI - Allison has definitely had larger breasts this season! I attributed it her being a new mom.

I freaking love the show. I usually cry at least once per episode. I really wish I could up and switch careers, because I think helping people get healthy must be such a fulfilling thing to do every day. And yeah, Jill might be negative sometimes, but it's because she cares SO MUCH about those contestants. That one kid (Jeff? Maybe?) last week who was giving her all the attitude just rubbed me the wrong way. He's so lucky to be there, and she's just trying to help him. Why all the 'tude, dude?

If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

What is right is not always easy, and what is easy is not always right.

I'm saying the way the show effected me. I know that the people on the show endorse a healthy weight. I think it could trigger people that are prone to excessive exercising. I'm not even saying that excessive exercise will cause weight loss. It might in some people; other people don't lose weight as easily. I'm saying a diet of seeing the Biggest Loser made me want to exercise six hours a day.

Whatever faults the show has, it does not endorse model thin or otherwise underweight physiques. The contestants are motivated to achieve a healthy weight and all of them need to go through that process because they have truly put their health at risk. Their effort is not gratuitous and if they can maintain it may well be life saving.

When I was called 'fat' by all these strangers, family members, medical people, classmates, etc, I weighed no more than 135 pounds. At my height, that is within normal BMI range. I wasn't 'fat,' but I thought I was fat and called fat all the time. I'm sure there are plenty of girls and women currently in that situation. I fear a show like Biggest Loser could be triggering for them.

I remember getting into my late twenties (early thirties) and suddenly I was thin, I didn't lose any weight. People around me were saying I had a nice figure. I got whistled at. It's like I grew into my body.

I suppose what I mean to say is that I look like Jillian, but in my mind, I look more like the contestants. It's not that I was that fat. I've never been that fat. I wonder with our obsession with fat if that show is healthy for the majority of women that are either normal weight or just 'overweight'.

I've been at goal weight for long enough that my eyes finally caught up with my body. However, and this is important, I still have to "keep it green", remember that it's all out there waiting for me if I ever forget that I don't react to Cheetos the way other people do.

I don't do well watching other people's misery. I remember an article in Weight Watchers Magazine about 40 years ago (amazing what can stick in my mind) about a Jackie Gleason show audition for a Fat Girl Chorusline. The women had to be over 300 pounds to get the audition. The article was about one woman who was selected for the show, but afterward decided it was time to do something. Like all fat women she was quietly suffering, feeling helpless, and being on TV for all the country to ridicule sent her to WW. She got to goal, but there were never any long term followups so we have no idea whether she was able to keep it off. Private humiliation is bad enough. The idea of public humiliation is unbearable to me, even watching others suffer it. (I was never a fan of the Gong Show, either.)

Nell Reston, Virginia

No one ever got up in the morning wishing she'd eaten more the night before.

I watched biggest loser all the seasons after I started Sparking this time. It made me want to exercise more, even excessively. It gave me some body dysmorphism. It made me feel bigger than I was, am. I have never had a BMI higher than 28, possibly 29. My BMI before I started losing weight this time was 26.7. My current BMI is less than 22.9. I know I'm closer in size to Jillian than any of the contestants. My mind often doesn't see this. I'm short and tiny like her.

I can relate to the contestants since I have not cared about what I ate and felt fat and unworthy of love even if in reality I was less than ten pounds overweight at the time. During my teen years and early adulthood, I was called fat by classmates, strangers on the street, family members and medical professionals.

It's hard to see my body dysmorphism even now. I see myself as fat although I wear a size 4. I was called fat by doctors, nurses, strangers and family members at this size or even smaller. I think the show can be inspiring but there are so many women (girls) that are called fat that are only a few pounds overweight if at all. It could trigger those individuals to exercise excessively.

That's a great point. I'm finding that the longer I maintain, the stronger my identity as a healthy-weight person becomes. With each day I stay successful, I become more disconnected with my former obese self and the pain and humiliation I sometimes suffered as a result. Although that's a positive thing, not wanting to go back to where I came from (and knowing how easy that's been for me to do in the past) is also a big motivator for me to stay on track. I really feel for anyone who's suffering because of their size and seeing people undergo not only physical but also emotional changes on shows like The Biggest Loser can be very inspirational.

My name's Tina. I lost more than 90 pounds between March 2010 and March 2012 and have been keeping if off ever since.

I definitely get something out of the show. I've been watching it online since 2009 when I was doing my own weight loss journey. When you have more than half of yourself to lose it is definitely helpful to watch others do it too.

And now that I'm in maintenance it is very helpful for me to reconnect with where I came from. Just in body dysmorphia it is helpful. Every single season I look at the new contestants and think, "thank goodness I was never THAT big, or I would never have had the courage to even try.' And then I look up their starting BMIs on Wikipedia and I'm shocked to realize that I was comparatively BIGGER than all but one or two of them. (Michael and Jeff are the only two this season with a higher starting BMI than me). How soon we forget...

And seeing their raw pain and confusion and humiliation about their size reconnects me with how I felt at that point myself and helps fuel my determination to keep maintaining and never ever EVER give up or go back there.

So while I may vent and rant about what contestants are shown saying, I definitely get something positive out of the show, warts and all.

Never, ever, EVER give up!

From BMI 53 (336 lbs) to under 30. Now aiming for less than 20% body fat.

I think if it inspires people to get up and move or if people watch it and think that if someone on Biggest Loser can do it then I will be able to also--then it is great. Personally, in the past, I HAVE found it inspiring.

I have been watching it off and on over the years Last season hooked me again as it was os much drama I'm thinking this season will have way to much drama as well For the most part and I am making a judgement the last few seasons I don't get the feeling the contestants really want ot be there and to lose the weight I also understand one week really isn't one week in the shows time. I do love the idea that BLC is talking about childhood obesity this season

Last season 3 or 4 just walked off and didn't finish to the end I think BLC is coming ot an end

I love that I "inspired" Angela to vent on my blog! Since I started this journey and, surely, during my successful run in maintaining, I've truly taken advantage of everything she has shared. Her passion benefits us all! As she has shown, I also knew that the maintaining percentage and history of former contestants was high. Yes, I get frustrated hearing all the excuses. Every one off these people had to have known what they were getting into. Personally, they're no different than the norm.I admire the winners who embrace a healthy lifestyle! It also gives me the burn to continue in the 1%, not the 5% of successful maintainers. Learn it! Love it! Live it! All the best... Monty

Monty, Team Leader *SparkPeople's Official 5K Your Way Running Program *Spark Triathlon Team *Spark Florida - The Official Team

TV is all about ratings. Just like other "reality" shows, very little is real. The motivations for participating are fabricated for drama and anything that can be manipulated for appeal will be.

The one reality is that these folks are getting (some kind of) help to improve their health and are making an extraordinary physical effort. I applaud them for that and wish them luck. It took me a long time to find the key to my best lifestyle change so I won't judge their journey.

The producers of the show are being driven by the market currents. That's just the way it is.

I don't have a huge problem with shows like The Biggest Loser--anything that inspires people to get healthy is a positive thing in my book--but I don't really like the idea of weight loss as a competition and the intense workouts the contestants endure. I know I'm a bit biased because of my past history with weight loss ups and downs which have sometimes included more extreme methods, but I can't underestimate how important it's been for me to develop habits that are sustainable. Anyone can diet and exercise hard for a short period of time, especially with professional guidance, but the real measure of success comes when the cameras shut off and you have to go back to living your normal life. I suppose a more more realistic show about losing and maintaining weight wouldn't make for good television, though!

My name's Tina. I lost more than 90 pounds between March 2010 and March 2012 and have been keeping if off ever since.

Thanks for sharing your blog about Biggest Loser maintenance. I think I remember Jillian Michaels saying sometime during the first episode that statistically about half of the contestants keep their weight off. Not sure what the definition of that was. This would put the contestants still far above the national average for weight loss maintenance. I am curious about this upcoming season in what the recommendations about diet are going to be. In previous seasons both Yoplait and Subway were heavy sponsors and were more or less advertised as health foods. I hope with Jillian back on the show that her influence will make a difference. I hope there will be more of an emphasis on long-term lifestyle changes involving the whole family with the new emphasis on childhood obesity. In one way I am less critical of the approach to have people exercise mega hours at the ranch than I used to be. The goal is to reduce weight quickly and this is the only way to do it. The medical supervision is very tight compared to what someone would do at home. I share you reservations about people waiting to get on the Biggest Loser to lose the weight. While it is hard to know what obstacles individual people face to not even try on their own seems like a cop-out. Birgit

You can talk to God all you want and that's great, but the changes happen when you start listening to him.

It occurs to me that there may be others here who have been watching it, and maybe it could be fun to discuss our thoughts about it in one place.

To get us started, here was my rant:

I just watched the first episode on Hulu.

Maybe this is uncharitable, but I found myself getting really frustrated with TC at the very beginning when they showed his story.

He made a promise to his son TWO YEARS AGO to get the weight off??? I found myself growing irritated because he said he's been trying to get on the show for - what, 5 years? Did I hear that right?

Because if he's had this on his mind for that long and if his kid was really that important to him, why the heck didn't he just start figuring it out on his own??? In two years of consistent application he could have been a normal BMI by now.

That guy is smaller, BMI-wise than I was when I started losing weight. ON MY OWN.

This idea that one has to wait for the show to pluck you out of your funk or whatever is a bit disturbing and strikes me as a recipe for eventual failure, even if you DO make it onto the show. Because afterward you STILL have to function on your own.

OK, I'm done venting now. Thank you for your forbearance. LOLOL

Edited by: 4A-HEALTHY-BMI at: 1/10/2013 (23:51)

Never, ever, EVER give up!

From BMI 53 (336 lbs) to under 30. Now aiming for less than 20% body fat.

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